To millions of men, Sylvia Kristel will forever be the girl who inspired their first boyhood fantasies.
The film actress caused a global sensation in 1974 with the title role in Emmanuelle, about a promiscuous housewife.
It was one of mainstream cinema’s first erotic movies.
But today – 38 years and countless dreams later – many of the 650million fans who have seen it were in mourning after its glamorous star died, aged 60.
The Dutch actress had survived cocaine addiction, alcoholism, throat cancer, a stroke and also a string of doomed love affairs.
She owned homes in glitzy locations across the world – but lost them all after going broke.
The screen legend ended her days in a small flat above a cafe in Utrecht, Holland.
“Sylvia died in her sleep on Wednesday night,” agent Marieke Verharen said today.
And the film’s director Just Jaeckin said: “I am very sad. She was like a little sister.”
Emmanuelle caused huge controversy on release. It was initially banned in Paris and was heavily cut in Britain before eventually being given an X-certificate.
The unedited version did not appear here until 2007.
It was promoted by a photo of a partially-clad and topless Sylvia in a wicker chair, toying suggestively with a string of pearls.
“At last,” ran the caption, “a film that won’t make you feel bad about feeling good.”
Convent-educated Sylvia later told how she stumbled into the audition – after being sent to try for a part in a soap powder ad next door.
“The director asked me to take my dress off,” she said.
“Luckily, it was easy to do. It had straps that I slipped over my shoulders and it just fell off. I carried on talking and smoking in the nude.
“I wasn’t inhibited at all. I’d done nude modelling and he felt I was graceful.”
Jaeckin today said he immediately knew she was destined for the role.
“I was thunderstruck when I saw her,” he recalled.
He added: “Emmanuelle brought us big problems. It was highly contestedand we were both a bit marked. Now it is a cult film.”
The movie that outraged the world now seems tame to modern eyes.
It was based on Emmanuelle Arsan’s erotic novel, set in Thailand and told the story of a bored wife who follows her diplomat husband to Asia and enjoys romantic trysts.
It became the most successful French film ever and played at one Paris cinema for 11 years.
Sylvia, who was shot in soft focus, was paid just £4,000.
But Emmanuelle made her a star, with several sequels and more than 50 other films.
Many, like Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Mata Hari, played on her sexy reputation.
Before falling ill Sylvia had been preparing for a role in an Amsterdam theatre production of the Tim Firth play Calendar Girls.
“She was known for her erotic work,” said Marieke, “but she could do far more than that and is Holland’s most famous actress ever.”
After going to Hollywood Sylvia became addicted to drink and drugs.
She left her lover, Dutch author Hugo Claus – by whom she had son Arthur – for an affair with UK actor Ian McShane.
There followed a five-month marriage to US millionaire Alan Turner.
Second husband and aspiring director Philippe Blot persuaded her to bankroll his films – but the pair went bust and she lost a Los Angeles apartment along with houses in Holland, Paris and the French Riviera.
Sylvia had affairs with French film legends Roger Vadim and Gerard Depardieu – and added a notch to Warren Beatty’s bedpost.
She said: “I was dressed but people prefer me naked. I spoke but they like me silent. A love goddess is far better off dying at 40.”
Sylvia, who is survived by partner Peter Brul and son Arthur, will have a private burial.